Accepted to FNP program. What are must haves to survive FNP program!!

Congratulations! Which school?

Congratulations! Which school?

Congratulations!

Me and peaceful are anxiously waiting to see if we've been accepted into USA for Spring 2010, which program are you starting? I'm so nervous I can hardly stand it. I know there is a thread on gadgets that are helpful to have, and I believe I read that once you're in clinicals a blackberry or iphone is a must.

I have applied to start a program next summer. From what I've heard, student can continue to work the first few semesters, but starting with the fourth semester (out of 7), students who can afford to cut back to 1-2 days a week since there is so much reading and studying, plus clinicals.

good luck guys....my best wishes to you. i got accepted into hawaii pacific university :) is blackberry bold good enough...which software is good for PDA ... keep us posted about ur admissions.

Congrats. Hawaii Pacific is a great school. I graduated from University of Hawaii at Manoa not so long ago. I now live in California. So you will probably complete your clinicals at Queen's or Kapolani Women's and Children. Let me know if you have any questions about Honolulu. You might already live there...

hey peaceful, so good to know someone from hawaii. i am right now in seattle...hawaii would be a total change for me...a good change. have lots of questions...just dont know where to begin..lol..never been to hawaii or know anybody living there. basically i am just hopping on to finish my school. i am sure i'll ask u lots of questions.

for usa...i don't think you need anything 'special' outside of your texts until you get to clinicals. i am in my first clinical semester and let me tell you it is way harder than all other classes before. the tests are nit-pickier and the reading is unbelievable.

so far...we do have to get epocrates on a handheld device. some are using their blackberries/iphones. i have a palm t/x as suggested by one of the instructors. she recommended keeping a separate device.

there is one book that another classmate found helpful for soap notes. i just got it and it looks good. haven't had a note due since i got it.

advanced health assessment & clinical diagnosis in primary care (paperback)

by [color=#003399]joyce e. dains drph jd rn fnp bc nap (author), [color=#003399]linda ciofu baumann phd aprn bc faan (author), [color=#003399]pamela scheibel rn msn cpnp (author)

also get the np certification review books. i have fitzgerald and other recommended ones are liek (or leik), and hollier. all of these can be found on amazon.

Hi,

Thanks so much for your advice on surviving USA program. Have you been working throughout the semesters? I hope to work at least 4 eight hr shifts a week to pay bills. We are suppose to hear this week if accepted to Spring 2010 program.

Thanks,

peaceful

When I started, I was working 5 days/40 hours and a PRN position and just found out I was pregnant. After my first semester, I went to a three 12 hour nights. After maternity leave I went to two 12 hour nights and gave up my PRN job, both for the baby and for school.

Depending on your other obligations and the curriculum plan you choose (I chose 8 semesters which I HIGHLY recommend), it could be doable to work 3+ days per week, definatley in the first year. However, once clinicals start, forget it. I can barely keep up with the reading this first clinical semester. And we only have 60 clinical hours this semester. The last 3 have 180 hours! The last semester used to be 240 but they recently changed that. I have no choice but to work at least part-time and I have a school aged child and and infant at home, and a husband who is always at work. I'm actually lucky that I get a lot of my reading done at work in the wee a.m. hours which is good because with the baby, I don't get much done at home!

While I do have complaints about this program, this semester specifically, from talking to others, I'm not sure any other programs are without their weaknesses either. The reading seems to be unreal in any program I've heard about.

One more tip, which should be relevant to any program...know your 6th ed APA!

Thanks, feedback extremely helpful to hear how your juggling everything. If you can do with a baby and working! Gives me some hope. The program sounds so demanding!

for usa...i don't think you need anything 'special' outside of your texts until you get to clinicals. i am in my first clinical semester and let me tell you it is way harder than all other classes before. the tests are nit-pickier and the reading is unbelievable.

so far...we do have to get epocrates on a handheld device. some are using their blackberries/iphones. i have a palm t/x as suggested by one of the instructors. she recommended keeping a separate device.

there is one book that another classmate found helpful for soap notes. i just got it and it looks good. haven't had a note due since i got it.

advanced health assessment & clinical diagnosis in primary care (paperback)

by [color=#003399]joyce e. dains drph jd rn fnp bc nap (author), [color=#003399]linda ciofu baumann phd aprn bc faan (author), [color=#003399]pamela scheibel rn msn cpnp (author)

also get the np certification review books. i have fitzgerald and other recommended ones are liek (or leik), and hollier. all of these can be found on amazon.

thanks for the advice! i have applied to usa to start in summer 2010. my husband and i were having a discussion tonight. he is very supportive of me going back to school, and through this program because we know it is great. but he was expressing his opinion that you don't get the same kind of teaching through an online program as you do when you attend class. i finished my bsn through ju online so i'm familiar with how it works. basically we're teaching ourselves from the textbooks and being tested online, as well as writing papers. what is your opinion of this? do you feel that you're learning this well and will be a well-prepared arnp? i also told him we'll have lots of clinical time with np's and have an abundance of hands on training. it's not like they're going to send us out there unprepared!

thanks.

Well, that is a touchy subject right now among classmates. Many of us do feel like we are in fact teaching ourselves. To a certain degree, I expect this of an online program, or rather that you must be disciplined and good at reading comprehension. However, in my previous semesters, there seemed to be more video lectures and more timely interaction with the instructors. Not so much this semester, which in my opinion, is when we really need it. Many of us plan to voice our opinion on this matter. I have my first hands on clinical on Friday and I anticipate that this is where the real learning will be. So the key is finding good preceptors! It is really hard to relate to all this reading when you aren't seeing it in practice, so I'm hoping using what I'm reading about will make this all click.

They have repeatedly told us they have 100% pass rates on their boards so they must be doing something right, it just doesn't feel like it right now.